James Potter and the Belladonna Lanterns
by Rain Sky
Summary: Three tales envisioning James Potter in the midst of retold Japanese folk tales. AU. First tale is a two-shot. Challenge.


A/N: This is an AU story inspired by a mash-up of various Japanese folk tales and creatures. The first tale features a harmful though sympathetic Bellatrix. I placed James's age at the start of the story at seventeen, in the summer before his final year of schooling. The first tale is probably a _**two-shot**_. This was written for Inkfire's challenge.

_James Potter and the Belladonna Lanterns_

"Dad! I'm going to see Remus! Bye!"

The athletic youth shut the door firmly behind him without waiting for a response from his father – such was the close-knit relationship in this family. He sprinted down the little trail in front of the sizable house passing by his father's prized garden of exotic plants, magical and non-magical alike. Once he passed the wards of the home marked by a simple sign reading "Adrienne and David Potter's residence" he pointed his wand at himself and muttered an incantation to Disilluse himself. Then, he mounted his broomstick and took to the sky.

It was mid afternoon, and would certainly be approaching dusk by the time he reached his friend Remus Lupin's home. His other best friend, Sirius Black, was tied up at a family function; he would join them by Floo later. It was unseasonably chilly for near midsummer, but James still thought Sirius was wasting a day with beautiful flying conditions. He'd just shrugged and said that it was really important – the sort of event he would have willingly attended even if he had been given the choice to decline.

What could be more important than being with their best friend on the night of the full moon? James wished he knew.

An hour later, James saw mountains up ahead. Normally, after the mountains, it would not be much longer to the Lupins' residence. This time, however, James was puzzled by the stormy clouds gathering in this area. These mountains saw occasional rain, but the foreboding weather gave even the daring James pause.

"Sir!"

James thought he heard a small voice calling. He scanned around, looking furiously for the source. He saw moist earth, ancient stone, and lush foliage, but no person. Of course not. Why would there be anyone here? As far as he knew, this mountain produced no plant life that humans had any particular use for, at least none that couldn't be easily obtained elsewhere. There was no reason to brave the narrow, precarious trails on foot.

"Please!"

He didn't imagine it. Someone was here. "Hello?" He called out uncertainly. To himself, he added, "Come on, help me out here…"

There were trees and brush in every direction. James decided that the mysterious voice had to belong to a child with dark green skin. He may have been a Chaser, but he'd played as a Seeker in casual Quidditch games, and he'd done respectably well searching for the tiny golden Snitch. The only way someone could still be indiscernible against this mountain would be if he or she was the colour of the mountain.

Light was quickly disappearing. If he didn't find the person soon, he probably wouldn't be able to until the next day. Say, wasn't he still Disillused? If this person could see him, he or she was probably a witch or wizard. Disillusionment wasn't invisibility, after all. Muggles didn't know to look for it, but magical children were taught from a young age to recognise it. James considered the merits of "_Accio Person-on-the-Mountain_".

"_Lumos liber_," James said instead. A ball of light erupted from his wand and he controlled it, moving it around the distant trees, lighting every nook and cranny as he looked down from above. He called again, "Hello! Are you there? Am I getting any closer?" James was beginning to feel desperate. He was fearless and brash, but his parents always said that strange things happened at nightfall. Would this person be attacked by some creature? Was this voice simply a trap?

"Y-yes… To your… left."

James turned and looked carefully. There! His eyes caught a flash of white and he flew towards it. Taking refuge among the roots of an impossibly large fruit-bearing tree was a barefoot girl in a loose knee-length white frock. She appeared small – perhaps a little younger than he was, but James reasoned that it could simply have been because she was huddled up. Her pallid skin was streaked with dirt and her black hair had many twigs in it. He wondered how long she had been lost.

"Hi," he said softly.

The girl's lip quivered and her blue eyes appeared watery.

_Oh no_, James thought, dismayed. He considered himself a decent guy by all accounts, but he was never good with crying children. Or females. Or female children.

He lowered himself, getting ready to dismount and offer comforting words, until his mother's voice rang in his head. _If you meet a beautiful girl at twilight, she is certainly a demon searching for her next meal._

"There, there. I'll get you out of here, don't worry," he said as he sized her up. Looking past the wear from her ordeal in the mountains, she was very pretty, though it'd be a long stretch to envision her as the sort of alluring beauty meant to ensnare men. "I'm James. What's your name?"

She appeared hesitant. "I'm Bellatrix."

"Bellatrix," James echoed. "That's nice. It suits you." He attempted to give her a kindly smile as he wondered why the name sounded so familiar. "Why are you out here?"

She looked miserable. "I came here to visit my brother. He has a house here, you know. But it was icy here and I fell." She pointed to a swollen ankle. James noticed that she carried no wand. "I can't move now, and I've been here since yesterday. I don't know if those fruits are safe to eat, and it was so cold last night."

There was very little light now, and the wind picked up. James felt wetness on his neck. "It's raining," he stated, befuddled. "No, it's snowing." He returned his attention to the girl. "I'll get you out of here. We have to move fast. The snow is light right now, but it might get bad real soon." He extended a hand to her, and she gladly took it. James pulled her on behind him, dispelling the Disillusionment charm so that she would better know how to hold on. He didn't want to fly too quickly; she didn't seem accustomed to a broom. However, what were just a few flakes of snow had turned into a full-on blizzard – it was bitingly cold and he could barely see in front of him. At this moment, James badly wished that he had passed his Apparition test.

He lightly touched Bellatrix's ice-cold arm. "Hey. It's okay. I'll figure a way out!" he insisted, more to reassure himself than the girl, who had not spoken since they were on the ground.

"There," she said barely audibly, pointing.

James squinted. There was a light somewhere below on the mountain.

"That must be my brother's home."

He didn't have a choice. He prided himself on being a good flyer, but he wasn't suicidal. James knew that even with his flying prowess and magical competence, he was outmatched. He mentally apologised to Remus and headed toward the light.

By the time they were near enough for James to see that the "house" was actually a "treehouse", both James and Bellatrix were soaked through and blue from the chill. Bellatrix gracelessly leapt off onto the "patio" that surrounded the house, trying not to use her right foot. James paused. The cottage was actually dark; the light that Bellatrix had seen came from paper lanterns with what looked like purple Angel's tears flowers painted onto them. They must have been enchanted against the elements; they alone did not react to the storm around them.

He dismounted and walked around to the open door, where Bellatrix was waiting. James hoped the house didn't have a draft, though at the moment he would settle for any kind of shelter. He pointed inside and said, "_Lumos liber_." As soon as the room was lit, Bellatrix bounced inside the best she could. James cast several more orbs of light as he surveyed the room. Some sort of a tree bark seemed to act as curtains. There was an old table with one chair and a single table setting; her brother apparently lived alone. Aside from a small bed, there was only a wooden chest.

James went to the box, hoping there was something to help him dry off. He opened the lid to find three sets of reasonably-kept wizard's robes, dried meat, and two jars of fruit preserves. He handed the food to Bellatrix, went outside again, and peered at the earth below. "_Diffindo! Accio fallen trunk!_" A fraction of a fallen tree zoomed up at James; he only just slowed the charm in time. He eased the wood into the treehouse and began to transfigure it. Twenty seconds later, he had a stack of fluffy towels.

"Come here," he gestured to the girl, who was eagerly helping herself to the jam. "Let's get you dried off." He set two giant towels aside for her before turning away from her. He carefully discarded his own soaked clothing to the floor to towel off and changed into her brother's dry ones. Without turning around, he tossed another set of dry robes in the general direction of the bed. "Put those on, okay?"

He heard her comply behind him. While he waited, he gazed outside at an arbitrary spot in the clouded sky where the moon may or may not have been and wondered what his best friends were doing. Sirius at least was with Remus at this moment. Was Peter able to take time off from his part-time job? James hoped so.

A slender hand offered him a piece of venison jerky. He gratefully accepted it; while he did not particularly feel like eating, he _was_ very hungry. He noted that the robes seemed to swallow Bellatrix whole, so large were they on her, but he doubted her brother would appreciate him using a Severing Charm on his robes.

Between bites, he asked, "Want to let me take a look at that ankle now? I'm no Healer, but I can see if it could use a splint."

Bellatrix obediently sat down and extended her injured ankle towards him. James examined it, and gently felt for abnormalities in the bones.

"So, do you have any other family?" He tried to keep her occupied.

"Yep, I have Mother and Father and two sisters."

James was impressed. "I don't have any siblings myself, but I am close to both my parents, even though Mum works all the time. I've also got three great friends; they're like brothers to me." He noticed that Bellatrix seemed to have colour in her cheeks again; he imagined he looked as bad. "But it doesn't look like your brother is here."

"I wonder if he went out looking for me?"

He patted her gingerly on the head. "I'm sure he'll be fine." At the same time, he wondered why she was out travelling alone if she had such a large family. "Well, I don't feel anything unusual. I think we should just keep it elevated, or at least level." He carried her to the little bed. "Try not to move too much. The weather will probably clear up tomorrow. Then we can either find your brother or get you back to your family."

She smiled. "I think they'd like you."

He just smiled back, having nothing more to say. He set his broomstick up against the bed in his restlessness, and then went to refold Bellatrix's brother's last set of robes. There was nothing he could do until the blizzard subsided, but it was too early to sleep.

"Do you have a lover?" Bellatrix asked suddenly.

The question unnerved James, as he thought of dark red hair and sharp green eyes. He looked back at the girl he was with. She seemed earnest and imploring. He supposed she was simply getting to that age when girls were interested in romance and handsome princes. "Nah, I'm only seventeen. I mean, sure, someday I'd like a family and all, but it's too early for a serious relationship."

"Oh."

* * *

><p>A woman with ash-blonde hair walked quickly past countless daffodils, anxious to return home after another exhausting day at work. Her husband opened the door right as she was about to knock.<p>

"Welcome home, dear." David Potter took his wife's bag and helped her out of her coat. "How was your day?" The answer was the same every day, of course.

"It was great!" No matter how tired Adrienne was, she loved working and valued her personal achievements. She was almost more married to her job than she was to David. Almost.

In the dining room, her warm hazel eyes fell on table, set for two. "Where's James?"

"He went out to Remus's in the afternoon," David shrugged. "Those boys have been inseparable for years."

Adrienne's brow furrowed. It was well past nine at night. Though it wasn't uncommon for her son to spend the night at a friend's house, he always sent an owl letting her and David know. "He probably lost track of time," she said offhandedly. She hoped she was right.

* * *

><p>James finally gave up and went to bed. Bellatrix was already curled up against the wall; as long as he didn't toss in his sleep, he wouldn't have to resign himself to the floor. As he laid down, he could feel the coolness of the girl's fingers. He covered her hands with his, trying to keep her warm; all the while, he cursed her brother for having inappropriately thin blankets that barely insulated. He wondered if he ought to transfigure more fluffy towels, but thought the better of it; if the transfiguration ended while he slept, the two of them would wake under a piece of wet, rotting wood. Instead, he settled for enfolding her, the imagery of a Welsh lullaby springing to his mind.<p>

As he slept, he dreamed of an imposing Manor surrounded by – in his opinion – a generic English rose garden. It was a pleasant day with only a few puffy clouds in the sky, but he couldn't enjoy this escape from his reality. He ignored a hybrid red tea rose he recognised as a Liebeszauber. The fragrant pink Moonstone rose received nary a look. He was running now, and the colourful blooms became a blur. He could feel it – what he was looking for was right around the corner –

His dream self froze, captivated.

Basking in the scent of Enchanted Evening roses was a girl who could only be described as an older, and rather more beautiful, Bellatrix. He allowed her to approach him without resistance. She caressed his face and gazed at him pitifully.

"If I crossed ten thousand miles of mountain for you, would you love me?"

* * *

><p>Unfortunately for Adrienne, not long after she got up at the crack of dawn the next morning, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were beating at her door. Her heart filled with dread as she let the boys in, noting that both seemed rather worse for the wear. She doubted that either boy had gotten a wink of sleep all night, red as their eyes appeared.<p>

"Mrs Potter, James never showed up yesterday – "

"I'm sorry, I told Sirius we should have owled you first – "

"I tried to use our two-way mirrors to talk to him but there was no response – "

"He probably remembered a more important obligation – "

"Fifteen minutes ago we chucked pebbles at his window and he wasn't there – "

"Sorry about that, Mrs Potter, we didn't want to bother you first – "

"Both of you, shut up!" Adrienne snapped. She handled her mornings just fine, no coffee needed, but, as the daughter of (fallen) aristocracy, racket was another story. Taking a few deep breaths, she asked, "When were you boys supposed to meet?"

The peaky Remus answered, "A little bit before sunset yesterday."

"And was he flying to see you?"

"Yeah, he reminded me of it constantly." Sirius was now unusually quiet.

Adrienne studied Sirius intently. "You usually fly with him, don't you? Why not yesterday, if you had the same destination?"

Sirius swallowed. Shaking, he finally whispered, "My family held a private memorial. Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the day my aunt, uncle, and cousins were all killed."


End file.
